The firm, which offers loans at a staggering 4,214% APR, has been forced to withdraw a page of its website that promoted its own short-term, high-interest loans over the standard student loan rate.

"The Wonga Advantage"

[Read more at Which4U]

Read the Fine Print
You might think you are getting a fantastic deal only to find yourself paying exorbitant fees at the end of the year that far exceed your savings. Read the fine print before you decide to go with a credit card. You might also find after reading the fine print that one bank is actually better than another when you look beyond the advertised numbers. For example, American Express Delta Gold SkyMiles Card has a $99 annual fee and comes with a $99 companion certificate, while the Platinum SkyMiles Card that is also offered by American Express has a $150 annual fee, but comes with a free certificate. Obviously the $198 card that offers its members a higher annual fee is the better deal. In addition, mileage cards and the such can advertise great benefits which in all actuality translate to false or minimal savings. Don’t lose out on the real rewards by not reading the fine print.

Check the Added Benefits
Great perks can supersede numbers. If you are a frequent international traveler, having a high annual fee is nice but will do nothing for you when you need to use your credit card in an international country. Therefore you should consider going with a well known credit card company like the Visa which is the number one credit card used in the world and is accepted in over 200 countries and territories. On the other hand, for those with less than perfect credit, a credit card company like First Premier Bank Credit Card is the best option. Other added benefits include bonus travel miles, points, cash rewards, sign-up bonuses and so on. The Capital One credit card has become known for its hassle free rewards system while other cards more than pay for their annual fees with rewards like travel miles or gas discounts. Other credit cards like the Aussie credit card associated with MasterCard can be used around the world and offers an extremely competitive rate on balance transfers starting at 2.99% and 9.99% on p.a. purchases for the first year. So in addition to reading the fine print, determine which credit card rewards are best for your particular needs and situation.

Fools Rush In
The increased number of credit card companies has translated to good news for consumers as the banks compete for their attention and business. Don’t rush into the first offer you find. Be sure to compare banks and rewards. For example, the new Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer Credit Card offers its holders more than just miles, it gives them the option of priority boarding and free bag check-ins which translate to convenience and savings. In addition to seasonal low APR offers, companies will occasionally offer benefits like large sign-up bonuses in statement credit, cash, points or even free tickets so therefore patience and good research pays off in the end.

This survey, conducted by the charity, has shown that the poorest families will spend around one-third of the amount that the average family will during the festive season.

The average family in the UK will spend between £530 and £690 on items related to Christmas including; gifts, decorations, food and drinks. However, when questioned, the majority of families with a smaller income said that they would be spending around £182.

This breaks down as approximately: £34 on food and drink, £28 on decorations, £6 on cards and £114 on gifts, for a basic Christmas.

Many of the parents asked felt that there was an increased level of pressure on them to provide gifts for their children that, normally, would be more expensive than they can afford.

The main reasons for this appear to stem from the retailers and media providing a constant bombardment or the latest “must have” items. This constant advertisement makes it easier for children to see something that looks great on the flashy adverts, and therefore allows them to keep reminding their parents about said item.

And it doesn’t get better as they grow older, with another major concern for parents being the expectations of their teenagers expecting electronic goods such as MP3 players, the latest mobile phone or tablet PCs.

Despite these pressures, many parents are still planning to spend less than £200 in total this year, with gifts being more practical purchases than gimmicky toys, such as clothes.

What can be drawn from this report is that it highlights the balancing act that a low income parent must maintain: on one side not wanting to ruin the magic of Christmas for your child, whilst having to maintain a sense of reality about the costs.

Some parents may feel the need to take out a personal loan over the festive period in order to tip the balance in favor of their child’s excitement. While this can be a good method in the short-term, it does mean that they will still be paying for Christmas long after the turkey has gone and the presents it paid for have been discarded by their owners.

An alternative to this is a 0% purchases credit card. With this, the holder will not pay interest on any purchases that they have made for up to 15 months, allowing them time to save up again without having to struggle to make payments each month.

Or how about trying to snap up a saving with hundreds of online discounts and vouchers to use in the top stores?

The company’s retail sales monitor saw that retail sales only grew by 0.7% last month (November), making it the weakest month for growth since May.

The BRC have suggested that one major reason why this could have happened is due to the mild weather that we have seen across the UK, which will have affected sales of items such as winter clothing and footwear.

Sales of non-food items online, by mail order and telephone have grown by 8.6% compared to the same month last year. But again, this is still the weakest growth since March.

Food sales growth has remained almost the same as this October’s five-month low, with most of the demand being seen coming from premium lines and ready meals. This has been put down to consumers wanting to save money by eating at home rather than eating out on a regular basis.

Shockingly, even the sales of products in the toiletries and cosmetics niche have also seen a fall for the first time in two years. This, again, has been put down to this winter’s milder weather, meaning less people are looking for cough and cold remedies and winter skincare products.

Director General of BRC, Stephen Robertson, has offered his comments on these low sales figures saying “Consumers are not quite in the Christmas mindset yet, although stores are working to generate much-needed sales with high levels of festive discounting,

“Retailers hope that customers who’ve managed their finances carefully in recent months will still treat themselves and their families in December, unhampered by the severe weather which disrupted shopping 12 months ago.”

This information has made some experts fear that the UK’s economy may be heading back towards the recession that gripped the country over the last few years.

This may see many companies losing profits over the festive period, with a number of pre-Christmas profits warning and weak trading statements being issued by retailers in the last few weeks.

If you are looking to make those festive payments just that little bit easier this year, it may be worth while looking into a credit card. With great rates which allow you to pay 0% on purchases for upto 15 months, it could take the edge off buying all of those presents for your family and friends. Check out the wide range available with Which4U.

What does this unrest mean about the way in which confidence influences our view of the economy?

[Read more at Which4U]

We could all do with taking some of the stress out of the Christmas shopping period, which only tends to add to an already manic list of commitments.

A trip to one of Europe’s finest Christmas market towns might be just the ticket.

Anyone planning to shop overseas for Christmas, though, even from the comfort of their own homes, should note the duty-free limits, which have been amended slightly in November.

HMRC’s guidelines for travellers or those ordering online show individual allowances before import duty and VAT become payable. Some of the basic rules regarding duties payable are as follows:

Non-EU

• If returning from a non-EU country via commercial travel, you are allowed £390 worth of goods for personal use, with the exception of tobacco and alcohol. Above this, and up to £630, there is a flat rate of 2.5% payable. If any one single item is worth more than the £390 allowance, duty is paid on the full value of that item.
• From November 1st, goods ordered over the internet or by mail order from outside the EU are subject to VAT if the package value exceeds £15.
• If ordered goods exceed £135 in value, they may be subject to customs duty.
• Duty-free quotas are strict on alcohol and tobacco brought in from outside the EU. Small measures of spirits or fortified wines are included, plus beer and still wine. Tobacco products can be combined but not exceeded to form the duty-free allowance.
• A gift sent to the UK from outside the EU (between private individuals) incurs import VAT if the package is worth £40 or more.

EU

• There are no limits on the amount of duty-paid goods that can be brought back from another EU country, provided that they are for personal use.
• Border staff may ask questions if you are found with the following quantities of alcohol or tobacco to establish that they are for personal use:

- 110 litres of beer,
- 90 litres of wine,
- 10 litres of spirits,
- 20 litres of fortified wines,
- 800 cigarettes,
- 200 cigars,
- 400 cigarillos or
- 1kg of tobacco

Full details of these regulations are available on the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/index.htm.

Credit Cards for Travel

If you are fortunate enough to escape away for a break, what about the best method to pay for your goods abroad?

Credit card suppliers often apply hidden charges when their plastic wares are used outside of the UK. Such charges might include:

• an extra percentage added to the sum withdrawal;
• high interest on the transaction amounts, even if the balance is subsequently cleared;
• and/or a cash withdrawal fee of 2-3%.

Debit cards are often astonishingly expensive to use as well. Providers will tend to add a penalty charge every time a card is used, making a host of small transactions very costly

Among Which4U’s credit cards for travel is Saga’s Platinum credit card (over 50s only), which offers a 0% charge on foreign currency payments around the world, plus free emergency travel assistance.

The Post Office Platinum card offers 0% commission on card use abroad and also waivers the 2.5% cash advance fee on foreign currency ordered through the Post Office.

Nationwide’s credit card operates a loyalty spending system, so that every £100 spent gives an allowance of £20 commission-free foreign currency purchases. Spending £250 per month on this card would offer the equivalent of £600 per year in commission-free transactions.

Are you planning a Christmas shopping trip abroad? With one of these credit cards, the savings really do mount up.. Why not make an application in good time and look forward to the extra funds you’ll have for those fabulous markets?

Keith McDonald
Which4U Editor

With the increasing number and popularity of mobile apps, major financial bodies have been looking towards innovative new payment systems for mobile devices.

The launch of these new mobile payment systems could now spell the beginning of the end for the traditional credit card.

Commonwealth Gold, American Silver

Last month, Google launched ‘Google Wallet’, an application designed to make payments easier for consumers while offering retailers more ways to offer loyalty programs. It is developing a system using Near Field Communication technology (NFC), and is expected to reach the UK by early 2012.

In terms of development, however, they may be beaten to the chase by Australia’s Commonwealth Bank, which today launched ‘Kaching‘, an app which allows smart phones / iPhones to connect with cash registers and to make payments by email and Facebook. It will be available within two months to iPhone users with operating system iOS4 or above. This would make CommBank the first commercial provider of such a mobile payment system.

How does it work? Payments on Kaching are enabled by adding iCarte to the handset, which allows purchases up to $100 to be made by tapping a phone where MasterCard PayPass facilities are present.

It is estimated that there are 42,000 such readers and more than seven million MasterCard PayPass cards currently in circulation. For its part, CommBank claim to have over six million online banking users and that more than 16 million log-ins took place in August alone. No doubt the roll-out of this payment system will see a huge expansion of these facilities.

Meanwhile, Australian giants Eftpos, which accounts for 85% for all debit payments in Australia, has also reportedly undergone a technological revolution, which will allow customers to conduct transactions with mobile phones and contact-less terminals. It is described as the first major change to eftpos’ functionality in a quarter of a century.

Revolution, then, is, quite literally, on the cards.

Britain Bronze, or Bronze Age?

So, America and Australia are readying themselves for the next phase in transactional technology. But does it spell an end for the credit card? In the UK, political scandal continues to play a defining role in the future of British finance.

A vast majority of Brits surveyed recently were wary about using their phones as makeshift credit cards. Recent phone-hacking political scandals in the UK have unnerved consumer confidence in secure telephony, and a poll of over 1,000 consumers revealed that only 17% would be comfortable using their mobile phones as a card payment device. 44% cited the lack of security software as their main concern.

Of the UK respondents, only 11% were uncomfortable using their credit cards to make online purchases via PC, but levels of doubt more than trebled when it came to the use of phones to make payments. Many felt that a phone was more likely to be stolen than a wallet and had concerns about the robustness of security measures that could feature on a mobile device.

It is unsurprising, perhaps, that CommBank reports security as having been of paramount importance in developing their system. Kaching includes password encryption, and no personal banking information will be stored on a user’s phone.

Will Brits willingly follow the rest of the world’s economy into this new age of transactional technology? Will they be dragged kicking and screaming? Moreover, will Britain’s stubborn resistance extend the life of the trusty plastic credit card?

The demographics of the UK survey revealed that the younger generation were more keen to adapt to new technology. A third hoped to use their mobile phones as a credit card in future, while a quarter of under 18s, without credit cards, are happy to use their phones for payment instead of other means.

Testing the Waters

There could be merits in scepticism. Other economies and major financial institutions will no doubt become interested spectators when commercial mobile payment systems begin operating, eager to see what teething problems and security issues will arise. And the recent UK phone-hacking scandal has highlighted the vulnerability of standard mobile phones to third parties.

Google, who appear to be the first conglomerate wishing to unveil a mobile payment facility to the UK, will need to work hard to convince and reassure a majority of UK consumers that mobile payments feel as secure as the material plastic credit card tucked safely away in the wallet.

Does this foretell the end of the traditional credit card? Do you feel comfortable about this turn to mobile payments? Drop us a comment and let us know!

Keith McDonald

Editor, Which4U

It has been estimated that savers at the basic level of tax would need to be investing at a rate of at least 6.5% to avoid losing out in real terms, and greater still for higher rate taxpayers. However, the low base rate set by the Monetary Policy Committee to aid growth is leaving very few products available at a percentage that can offset the high inflation rate.

What are the options?

[Find out at Which4U]

However, UK holidaymakers setting off to France may get a surprise when they order their first beer, as it could cost them over a fiver, so many will have to start raiding their savings accounts in order to splash out a bit.

According to beer price comparison website pintprice.com, France currently sits at number nine in a survey covering 208 countries for the most expensive cost of beer.

Exchange rates can also play a large part in the decision making process when looking for holiday destinations.

While a weak pound is good for exporters, it is bad news for people looking to travel overseas.

Many of us will remember the days when a pound would get us 1 euro 50, whereas nowadays when taking commission charges into account, we now struggle to get more than two thirds of that, with a pound now bringing not much more than a single euro for every pound.

As the Bank of England continues to hold the bank rate at its lowest ever level of 0.5%, holding on to sterling is not an attractive option as the financial returns are poor.

Many experts are not expecting to see a recovery for at least a year.

Mark O’ Sullivan, of Currencies Direct, spoke of a few holiday destinations that have actually improved in terms of how much you get for your pound.

According to O’ Sullivan, the Egyptian pound and the Turkish lira still offer great value for the pound – in both cases rising 20%.

If you would prefer to head further east, the Thai Baht still comes at around 50 to the pound – a rate that hasn’t changed much in the last couple of years.

Shopping around for currency is something that we should all do, especially online. Booking your currency in advance can also get you the best rates, but you have to remember that if they improve while you’re waiting for delivery, you probably won’t see the difference.

A number of high street shops offer “commission free” deals, while other well known retailers such as Marks & Spencer also have a bureau de change – but these don’t always offer the cheapest option.

Some credit cards, including the Post Office credit card, charge no fees for withdrawing cash while abroad.

However, there are a number of debt settlement methods that allow us to manage repayments while in some cases freezing any further interest until the credit card debt has been cleared.

It’s worth checking all of your options for debt settlement techniques, but one method that may not seem like the most obvious to begin with is by use of a credit card.

Credit cards are traditionally seen as a tool to fuel debt, but nowadays there are many different types of credit cards, each designed to help people to save money – from cards that reward users for using them as payment, to cards that allow you to move your debt to and pay 0% interest for an introductory period.

Balance transfer credit cards come with 0% interest durations for anything up to 20 months, allowing you to set up a debt settlement plan in order to clear the debt within the interest free period.

There is a small transfer fee to pay that is added to your balance (usually around 3% of the balance transferred), but this fee is tiny compared to what you will be paying for a standard rate – not forgetting that your rate is per year, whereas the transfer fee is a one off.

For example, if you transfer a £1,000 debt from a previous credit card to an 18 month 0% balance transfer card with a transfer fee of 3%, you can spread your balance (£1,030 after the transfer fee) over the 18 month duration (around £57.20 per month) and be debt free without paying any unnecessary interest.

Now lets say your previous card had an APR of 16.9%. If you paid the same amount off each month it would take you 21 months to settle your debt – costing you over £170 more.